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President swears in new Fijian government |
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July 29, 2000
SUVA (AP) - Amid tight security, Fiji's president swore in a new government Friday, a nationalist Cabinet it is hoped will help restore calm in the Pacific nation that has been in turmoil since a May 19 coup. Although the new government was strongly nationalist, it contained no close supporters of coup leader George Speight, whose siege - waged in the name of ethnic Fijian rights - unleashed a wave of civil unrest. Friday's ceremony was led by respected banker Laisenia Qarase, who has pledged to strengthen indigenous Fijians' grip on power in the Pacific island state. In a nationwide address following his swearing in, Qarase promised a government of "moderation, inclusion and compassion." But he said indigenous Fijians would be guaranteed a "special place in our society." The Cabinet, which does not have a single ethnic-Indian member, replaces the ousted administration of Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister of Indian descent, who was toppled after the coup. In his coup, Speight had demanded the Cabinet be stacked with his followers. He allegedly threatened the life of President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, appointed after Chaudhry's ouster, if that did not happen. Three Speight supporters had been named in another government lineup last week that was not sworn in because of Speight objections. The three were removed from the lineup announced Friday in a move that will likely further anger hardline Speight supporters. However, Speight's ability to provoke further unrest has been severely curtailed since Wednesday when the army arrested him and his key advisers before swooping Thursday to detain hundreds of his core supporters. Labor and industrial relations minister in the new administration, Ratu Tevita Momoedonu, applauded the arrest. "He should be charged for helping to overthrow a properly elected government, He should spend a long time behind bars," Momoedonu said after being sworn in at Borron House, a colonial mansion overlooking Suva harbor. The military has said it may charge Speight with treason, but said early Friday a week may pass before he is charged. Rebel supporters briefly took dozens of ethnic Indians hostage on Thursday and held two New Zealand pilots, but all had been released by early Friday and Fiji was generally calm, raising hopes that peace and stability may finally be returning. With every post except one held by ethnic Fijians, the new government met one of Speight's original demands - that political power not slip into the hands of Fiji's large ethnic Indian minority. The only non-Fijian was an ethnic Indian named as a junior minister. Launching an emergency budget Thursday aimed at curbing the economic devastation wreaked by the coup, Qarase promised to "religiously pursue" a government blueprint which discriminates against ethnic Indians. "Fijians do not seek permanency as an expression of racial superiority. Their motivation is to ensure the survival of a small and distinct race," Qarase said, adding that "aggressive" foreign critics such as Australia and New Zealand should leave Fiji to solve its own problems. Australia, New Zealand and the United States are demanding the restoration of democracy in Fiji and have imposed sanctions. Qarase said his new government will hold on to power for three years before fresh elections under a redrawn constitution guaranteeing top government jobs to indigenous Fijians. Speight claims ethnic Indians, who make up 44 percent of Fiji's population, have too much power and are threatening Fijian culture. The Indians were first brought to Fiji in the 1870s by British colonialists as indentured laborers. Qarase said Friday he had asked ethnic Indians to join his Cabinet but they declined citing safety fears. Qarase also warned Chaudhry against setting up an alternative government within Fiji - an idea Chaudhry floated last week. "For them to set up a self-proclaimed government would be a direct challenge to the executive authority of the president," Qarase said. "If they persist with it, they will be dealt with according to law."
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